We all get our start somewhere. Local craftsman Tyler Bittle, 23, of Russellville credits his start and success to family tradition.

“I guess you could say I’m a fourth-generation woodworker,” Bittle said. “My great grandfather owned a saw mill and built furniture, my grandfather had a woodshop and would also do furniture restoration. My dad builds houses now and it kind of comes to me.”

The long family history of woodworking ignites passion in Bittle for quality work and dedication for his art.

“You can say that sawdust gets in your blood,” he said.

Bittle got his first taste for the craft at an early age. He smiled, remembering how even as a child, he could always be found building things.

“I never had action figures, I never had any of the regular toys, except for Legos,” he said, “When I got a little older, I started coming out here and tromping through the woods building leantos and teepees. My toys kind of turned into hatchets and hacksaws.”

His fondness for building followed him to college, where he began building custom furniture for people living in dormitories. He became very popular when other students saw the furniture he had built for himself and wanted pieces of their own.

He laughed, remembering how he wasn’t so popular with some of the people who had to listen to his power tools.

“I actually met some of my best friends in college because I was assembling a shelf in my room. It just so happened that me hitting the shelf with a hammer was disturbing them trying to study downstairs,” Bittle said.

He graduated with his bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Arkansas and is preparing to return to UCA to work on a master’s degree in community economic development, Bittle took the past year off to save money for school and build custom products.

“There’s a movement for local craftsman again … and I guess you could say I fit into that. Most of the wood that I use is cut here in Arkansas, or it’s salvaged here because I do barn salvage as well,” he said.

Bittle takes pride in his work, shaking his head at the idea of disposable furniture. He believes furniture should be built to last a lifetime.

“Everything I build is made of solid wood. There’s no particle board, there’s no laminated vinyl put over particle board or anything like that,” Bittle said.

Most of the work he does is through people sending him photographs of things they want.

He also builds pieces he likes, but said he becomes attached to those pieces and often has a hard time selling them.

“My next big challenge will be building an arbor for a wedding out of tree branches, which is something that I haven’t really done since building those tee pees and leantos,” Bittle said.

Seeing his work, it’s clear that Bittle has come a long way since those makeshift playgrounds. With a shop full of power tools acquired both by himself and passed down through generations,

Bittle has moved beyond mere hatchets and hacksaws, though they still make an appearance in his shop.